PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Officials released a report Wednesday detailing how and why Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota was mistaken for an armed robbery suspect.
Sahota, 53, was shot to death by Clark County Deputy Jonathan Feller as he struggled with the suspect, Julio Segura, on his own front porch near Battle Ground on Jan. 29.
The Lower Columbia Major Crime Teams say Sahota was wearing a dark-colored shirt initially, but his outer shirt was pulled up during the struggle exposing his white shirt underneath. Sahota’s shirt was similar to the one Segura was wearing — confusing officers.
Officers on the scene reportedly told the LCMCT they believed Sahota was the suspect “based on his actions and appearance.” After Sahota was shot, one deputy even radioed “The suspect is down.”
Further, an officer said he saw Segura come out through the front door, so he told Segura to go back inside the home thinking he was the homeowner.
According to the report, Deputy Feller said he saw a man matching the suspect’s description run into the home with a gun he picked up from the driveway. Feller said he thought the man was trying to break into the home, so he told the man to get on the ground. When the man didn’t follow the order, Feller said he fired his gun “to stop the threat to the residents.”
Evidence shows that Sahota fired one 9 mm round near his front door. According to investigators, none of the responding officers or the involved deputy heard him fire the shot.
During the altercation, Segura stabbed Sahota puncturing his lung. According to investigators, the stab wounds “would have been life-threatening without immediate medical intervention” — meaning it could have caused him to bleed out if he didn’t receive immediate care. However, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy said the gunshot wounds to Sahota’s chest were so traumatic that those were the injuries that took his life.
Segura remains in jail and is charged with murder. His first court appearance was Wednesday, where the judge decided his bail would remain $5 million.